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Tap , ta-ta, tap. His finger hit the top of the picnic table over and over again. It started to bruise a bit but even that hadn't pulled him away from his thoughts. He repeated the phrase over and over in Morse code; I miss you. He ignored that beautiful, Saturday afternoon. He ignored Dylan's snide comments of something or other when he was on his way to play football with his 'friends'. He even ignored the fact that it was taco day in the cafeteria. He just sat there, one arm resting on the table to hold up his head and the other tapping away.

I miss you.

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Already?

The added tap hadn't come from him. For a quick moment, Leo Valdez had actually thought a miracle was taking place...and in a way, it was. Just not the miracle he had expected. He thought he'd see his mother's face, despite how insane and impossible that was. Instead, his chocolate orbs landed on the part-Cherokee female he had recently claimed as a friend. The wind picked up strands of her choppy hair while the two braids in her hair stayed over her shoulders. She looked at Leo with a bit of concern, like she was trying to figure out what was wrong and avoiding to ask him.

"You've been practicing," he realized. Piper McLean had caught him using Morse code when they were partnered up for a history project. She seemed intrigued enough and by the end of their study session she was able to build a few short sentences in the code.

"Pretty soon, I'll be better than you." She pulled one corner of her mouth into a slight smile, before pursing her lips to plan her next verbal attack. With narrowed eyes, she sat down beside him. Uh-oh. Leo knew where this was going. She was going to ask him what that was all about. He was just about ready to make some excuse about leaving when she inched forward to examine his face. "Why, I miss you? What's that about?"

"It's nothing," he lied. He wasn't sure he wanted to open that can of worms. Leo hated it when people pitied him for his mother's death. He learned long ago it was best not to share that information. Then again, he had never really had a friend before either. Not one that stuck. It might have only been a few weeks since Piper joined him at Wilderness school, but so far they'd gotten along great.

"Tell me," this seemed more like a command than a suggestion and for some reason Leo couldn't stop himself after that.

"Today's...uh," he flinched, like something invisible was about to smack him upside the head or something. "The anniversary of uh...my mom." He didn't need to say much more. He might not have shared exactly how Esperanza had died or when but at some point, Piper had asked him about her. And now that he thought about it, he seemed to spill the fact that she was dead almost in the same way he had now.

The realization struck Piper and she had almost caved to a sorry expression. It seemed obvious now, that he'd be consumed with Morse code knowing that it was the language he and his mother had shared. Straightening herself, she stood up. Her digits grabbed at the folds of his sleeve, urging the boy up with insistency. "Come on, Valdez, it's Taco day." She wouldn't make him deal with this, not when she couldn't even deal with her own problems. But if she left him sulking she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. "I'll watch you chow down on some meat, while I feel guilty over the fact."

He stared at her, dumb founded, he almost couldn't believe it really; the fact that she actually cared. It took him a second but then a smile soon etched his face. "You're on, Veggie-Queen."

"Veggie Queen?" She crossed her arms in displeasure. Leo rubbed the back of his head, leading the way back towards the school building. "Yeah, you're right. It doesn't quite fit you, does it?"

The scene faded and time moved forward.

Leo found himself in the middle of physical ed class. The boys were taking turns running the dirt track while Coach Hedge timed them. The girls? They were stretching a few yards away, getting ready to do their normal exercises. It was the only time he and Piper were apart, aside from sleeping and being in their own rooms. Otherwise, they had shared the same classes and hung out whenever they could.

Leo stood in the back of the line, he was leaning against the benches that lined the entrance of the track, searching the group of girls for his friend. It was hard to describe how he felt next. It was all sort of out of the blue but the longer he allowed himself to indulge in the thought, he realized it wasn't much of a surprise. Piper stood out from the rest of the girls and it wasn't because of her heritage or the fact that her hair was uneven and choppy; a style Leo preferred over the primped hair-dos of Wilderness schools 'finest'. She had managed to become a part of his life, a feat not many had been able to perform since his mother and in that moment he felt determined to finally act, to finally share with her something he had never shared with anyone. Normally, he wouldn't even allow the idea to cross his mind but didn't he owe that much to her? She had become his best-friend. If he couldn't trust Piper then there would be no one he could ever really trust.

Still fueled by his sudden burst of courage, Leo ran his hand through his wavy locks, stood straight, then took off towards the girls in a light jog. He was lucky, because the girl's coach had returned to the locker room to retrieve her forgotten grading book. "Hey, Pipes!" She shot him the same stern look she always did when he called her that. Leo never forgot that she hated it but he also couldn't help but enjoy how annoyed she looked. Not many could make such an expression look flattering. If more girls looked like that? Hell, he'd annoy every girl he'd come across(not to say that he didn't try every now and then).

"What's up, Valdez?" he could tell she was trying to sound upset but it wasn't fooling him. She walked over, meeting him half-way, ignoring the pointing and whispers coming from the girls behind her.

"The roof," he stated with a grin.

"Ha-ha," she rolled her eyes, then extended her hand to lightly push him by the shoulder.

"Seriously," he chuckled, allowing it to fade into a calm expression. "We need to talk, it's kind of important."

Piper realized the seriousness of the subject matter by his demeanor and straightened, prepared to hear whatever it was he had to say then and there.

"Uh, not now," he responded quickly, shaking his head. "Later, uhhhh maybe tonight? On the roof? There's that star thing happening, right?" That was a good enough cover as any he supposed.

The proposition seemed to have taken her by surprise but not in the way that she expected. She looked nervous but remembered that this was Leo she was talking to. "Yeah, sure."

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge called for his turn. "Don't make me get out there and fetch'ya!"

"Cool!," he began to walk back, backwards, so that he could continue with his ending conversation. "It's a date," he saluted the girl, then turned to run back towards the track. It wasn't till he reached his peers that he realized he might chosen his words poorly. What if he made her uncomfortable? Why was he even concerned?

The scene jumped again to later that evening.

It really was the perfect night for this. The sky was blaze by the shooting stars and the air was cool and comfortable, even at the height of the roof. Leo stood at the edge of the building, chocolate orbs looking into the distance. He thought he would be more nervous about this but surprisingly enough, he wasn't. Maybe this was what it was like to have someone you trusted?

"Nice night," Piper smiled, studying his back until he turned to her. He returned her greeting with that same mischievous grin he wore whenever he was in a good mood. She walked towards him, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Leo studied her, realizing that she had done something different. He figured it was just a coincidence that she let it flow out naturally, without her braids, but there was a part of him that had hoped she might have done it to impress him.

"Sure is," he exhaled deeply, balancing himself on the balls of his feet, swinging back and forth in place. "So..."

"You wanted to tell me something?" she helped him along with his words like she always seemed to do.

He nodded, then looked down at his feet. "Here's the thing. I'm... I'm not a freak or anything." Ohj, great start. He looked up nervously, knowing that he was messing up already. "I mean... that sounds worse than I really is. Then again... I dunno it might be pretty bad I-"

"Valdez," she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Right, sorry. I just-maybe I should just show you." He rubbed his hands together and took a deep breath. "Promise... promise not to freak out." He decided to leave it at that, then looked down at his hands to concentrate. It took a moment, he hadn't force this in quite some time. But soon enough, a small flame erupted from the palms of his together as they were cupped together. Piper gasped, the light of the fire reflecting against her changing eyes. In fact, Leo hadn't noticed until that moment that they were changing. Was that normal? Wrong thing to question from the guy holding a ball of fire.

"Thats..." she began to speak and Leo flinched. "Amazing." Then he relaxed.

"R-really?"

She looked up at him, her face beaming with awe and pride. "Leo, it's incredible. It's...beautiful."

He wanted to freeze that moment forever, to hold the expression on her face and repeat her words over and over again for as long as he could.

Like everything in Leo's life, he wasn't allowed to have that.

Everything started to get dark, the falling stars began to disappear from the night sky and a black fog began to engulf the scenery around him. Piper's face began to fade and an eerie voice began to speak.

"This is what the Goddess has taken from you and you still want to help?"

Leo awoke in his bunk in a cold sweat. His breathing was heavy and his eyes were wild. He looked around, as if expecting the owner of the voice to appear before him. Nothing. Nothing but his bunk which was covered by empty cans of soda and energy drinks and the belongings of Beckendorf which he had neglected to move since he was placed here.

He expressed a groan of frustration, shaking the hair on his head as if to shake the memories away. "Just...leave me alone!" He dropped his upper body back on his bed, staring up at the pictures Beckendorf had kept pinned above the bed. "I don't want to remember..."

But that was a lie. He just felt guilty about remembering.